Each summer, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) welcomes students from broad academic backgrounds who bring fresh perspectives and technical expertise to the Lab's mission. This year, interns are contributing to engineering, national security, high-energy laser research and artificial intelligence. Meet four interns and learn how their LLNL experiences are shaping their skills, interests and career goals. Applying classroom lessons to pioneering engineering Julien Rodriguez applies mechanical engineering principles to support safety analysis for a National Ignition Facility diagnostic. Julien Rodriguez is a junior mechanical engineering student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, interning in LLNL's
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Technology & InnovationLawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Sandwiched between the electrolyte and electrodes in a lithium-ion battery is a remarkably thin layer of material that strongly dictates battery performance and durability: the interphase. Although typically only a few to tens of nanometers thick, interphases are among the least understood components of an operating battery cell. Their complex and constantly evolving structures make it challenging to determine how their atomic features and microscopic variations translate into macroscopic battery performance. In a recent study, published in Advanced Energy Materials, researchers at
Fusion EnergyTechnology & Innovation#Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory#Advanced Materials and Manufacturing#computing#Energy#HPC#Simulation#and Data Science#Top Story
Press ReleasesLawrence Livermore National Laboratory
LLNL signal and imaging engineer Aditya Mohan is driven by a simple but ambitious goal: to view the world through as many different wavelengths as possible. "I have a dream to bring together all the different ways of seeing an object, from X-rays to visible light to microwaves, to learn everything there is to know about its structure and properties," he said. "A leaf is green because it reflects green light. Millimeter waves can detect items inside a shipping box. X-rays can see through soft tissue and show your bones. Different wavelengths show different things about the same object." As
Research#Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory#Careers#Engineering#HPC#Simulation#and Data Science#Top Story
Space & AstronomyLawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Over the past decade, global space launch cadences have grown dramatically, frequently placing multiple payloads into orbit on a single booster. Robust Space Domain Awareness (SDA) and precise characterization of resident space objects are vital to safeguarding the orbital environment. To confront this emerging national security risk, a team of scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) partnered with Rocket Lab and the U.S. Space Force (USSF) Space Systems Command (SSC) to deliver an optical payload for the VICTUS HAZE tactically responsive space (TacRS) mission under the
Space & Astronomy#Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory#Defense#Engineering#Global Security#Industry Collaborations#Lasers and Optical S&T#Space security#Top Story
Technology & InnovationLawrence Livermore National Laboratory
For nearly 30 years, LLNL has offered Teacher Research Academy (TRA) to middle school, high school and community college teachers looking for unique professional development experiences. At no cost to educators, TRA workshops offer classroom-focused applications of LLNL's groundbreaking science and technology. Over two weeks this summer, four different TRAs were offered as two-day workshops: Understanding Energy Technology, Drone Design & Application, Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the Classroom and Data Analytics for STEM Labs using AI. Understanding energy technology This session
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Research NewsLawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Rechargeable lithium batteries trace back to 1972, but they wouldn't reach consumer products until 1991. Solar photovoltaic cells existed in the 1950s, long before solar panels appeared on rooftops. And the MRI was demonstrated in the 1970s, years before the machines became hospital staples. In each case, the core scientific principles had been proven. The difficult part was scaling them into technologies people could reliably use. The average disruptive technology takes roughly 35 years to cross that divide. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists are trying to compress
Medical Research#Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory#Advanced Materials and Manufacturing#Energy#Engineering#HPC#Simulation#and Data Science#Top Story
Technology & InnovationLawrence Livermore National Laboratory
While quantum computing could be the future, it is currently plagued by finicky hardware. To make the technology practical, researchers must demonstrate that it consistently and continuously works and performs at scale. In a new study, published in Physical Review Letters, researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the Ion Storage Group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado, created a robust process for entangling trapped-ion qubits. The result means better building blocks for ion-based quantum computers. The approach creates a
Technology & Innovation#Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory#Advanced Materials and Manufacturing#computing#HPC#Simulation#and Data Science#Top Story#advanced materials
Technology & InnovationLawrence Livermore National Laboratory
"The history of failure in war can almost be summed up in two words: too late." General Douglas MacArthur's warning underscored the urgency and importance of the first Decision Superiority Summit, hosted this summer by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), where Department of War (DOW) decision makers, scientists, engineers and analysts explored how computer modeling and simulation, artificial intelligence, machine learning and high-performance computing can enable faster, better-informed decisions in the increasingly competitive technological arena of near-peer conflict. "The
Technology & Innovation#Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory#computing#Defense#Government#HPC#Simulation#and Data Science#Top Story
Space & AstronomyLawrence Livermore National Laboratory
For the second summer, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LLNL) Space Science Institute (SSI) welcomed undergraduate and graduate students to a 10-week internship exploring astronomy, cosmochemistry and astrophysics. Throughout the summer, the 2026 student cohort worked alongside their LLNL mentors on projects reflecting the variety of capabilities available onsite at the Laboratory. "Here at the Lab, there is a huge breadth of research that lives under space science — from performing astrophysical data analysis with LLNL's high-performance computers to characterizing an instrument
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Research NewsLawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Nearly 100 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) students, mentors and staff joined colleagues from across the Department of Energy (DOE) complex recently for a hands-on clinic focused on using agentic artificial intelligence tools in real scientific and technical work. Held in the Lab's Research Library, the 2026 Cross-Laboratory AI Clinic combined shared presentations from DOE and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) with local working sessions at LLNL. Participants could bring their own data or research problem or work through a challenge problem developed through LLNL's Data
Particle PhysicsEnergy InfrastructureTechnology & Innovation#Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory#Academic Engagement#computing#Government#HPC#Simulation#and Data Science#Top Story
Technology & InnovationLawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and engineers, in conjunction with the Department of Energy (DOE) and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), are increasingly looking to AI, robotics and automation to help accelerate advanced manufacturing, materials discovery and experimental science. The work is part of a broader push to move faster from concept to deployment in mission-relevant technologies. For Chris Spadaccini, who leads LLNL's Materials Engineering Division and has helped drive much of the Lab's advanced manufacturing research, that urgency is
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Technology & InnovationLawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have found that implosions designed for inertial fusion energy (IFE) can tolerate significant imperfections before performance abruptly declines, a finding that could inform the design of fuel targets for future fusion power plants. The findings were detailed in a paper titled "Robustness of inertial fusion energy relevant implosions to low-mode asymmetries," published recently in Physics of Plasmas and selected for the journal's cover. The study was led by LLNL physicist Timothy Johnson, who directed the research and analysis
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Press ReleasesLawrence Livermore National Laboratory
The FlowVAM system eliminates the need to manually exchange print volume in Tomographic Volumetric Additive Manufacturing and incorporates in situ metrology, yielding a 200-fold improvement in part production rates. Image credit: Hazel Rose Galvan/LLNL Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and engineers have earned six R&D 100 Awards, which recognize the top 100 inventions worldwide. LLNL was the lead laboratory on four of the winning inventions and contributed to two multi-lab invention wins. Often called the "Oscars of innovation," the trade journal R&D World Magazine
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Space & AstronomyLawrence Livermore National Laboratory
The NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory marked a major milestone with the beginning of the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), a 10-year effort to capture the universe in unprecedented detail. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) engineer and former project manager for the LSST Camera, Vincent Riot reflected on the culmination of the project and the journey ahead. Development of the world's largest digital camera began before Riot arrived at the Lab in 2003. For most of his career, he worked to build first-of-its kind optical components, including lenses that would later be
Space & Astronomy#Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory#Academic Engagement#Engineering#Lasers and Optical S&T#Top Story#astronomy#astrophysics#NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory
Technology & InnovationLawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory called and the signal and image sciences community answered: The Center for Advanced Signal and Image Sciences (CASIS) hosted their 30th annual workshop at the University of California Livermore Collaboration Center (UCLCC) on June 24-25, setting new records for attendance and technical contributions in the workshop's three-decade history. This year's workshop drew 303 registrants, a 35% increase over 2025 and more than double the attendance of just three years ago, along with around 70 talks and 55 posters spanning eight tracks on a parallel agenda
Fusion EnergyTechnology & Innovation#Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory#Advanced Materials and Manufacturing#Engineering#HPC#Simulation#and Data Science#Lasers and Optical S&T#National Ignition Facility and Photon Science
